A Case to Keep Our Mango Hill Memorial Trees

Developers have a Development Application (DA), 2016/33328/V3RL-RAL Residential 50 plus Lots*, in place for a new residential estate in Mango Hill, and have requested the removal of 11 Anzac Memorial Mango Trees, along Anzac Avenue. The Council have not nipped this in the bud yet, so we are producing a case to protect these trees.

There shouldn’t be a need to produce a case to keep these trees, because they are Memorial Trees. But we seem to be needing to do this a bit lately.

The most integral part of this case is that the Heritage Protected Anzac Memorial Avenue (and its features) are protected by the Queensland Heritage Act, in which the regulation relating to a Lot Reconfiguration, (which is what this DA 33328/V3RL is), must provide a “probable solution” to meet this Specific Outcome:

“S.2 Reconfiguration does not—
(a) reduce public access to the place; or
(b) obscure or destroy any pattern of historical subdivisions, and landscape settings or the scale and consistency of urban precincts relating to the place”.

So there should be no need for us to continue writing any more in this article because cutting down trees clearly does not meet this outcome. But we have to continue.. because people/developers keep on arguing against the significance of our trees and their importance for the Memorial Avenue listing as a heritage place.

In a previous article we mention the discovery of the Department of Transport and Main Road’s Conservation Management Plan (CMP) for Anzac Memorial Avenue, as listed in the Queensland Heritage Register (EHR) entry for our Avenue.

This is a very detailed document, and references the EHR, the reason why it is registered, the MBRC reference to these trees and an assessment of all the trees by an experienced arborist.

Profile of our 11 Trees

The 11 Mango Trees which are endangered with this DA are identified as trees 86 to 96 in the CMP, and are in the section between “Discovery Drive/Halpine Drive to Kinsellas Rd”, MBRC section 7 and TMR section 4. Shown on the CMP maps of section 3, (as snapshotted below), with the endangered trees highlighted with a red box.

Snippet of the aerial map from CMP showing all the Anzac Memorial Mango Trees, with the endangered ones highlighted with a red box.

They are all considered “mature” and in “fair” condition, with a further 50 year useful life expectancy. This species is also considered “perfectly suitable” for their location.

The description of Significance Ranking from the CMP.

These trees are considered to be part of the original plantings, and thus get a “high” individual significance ranking.

The trees are also registered as Significant Trees “139”, in MBRC’s own Historical Register.